The Unalaq Clan
by axleonex
Summary: One small decision in Unalaq's youth changed the course of his entire lifetime. Now, in a world without the Avatar, Desna and Eska find themselves intertwined in the world of politics, as they face off against the ruler of Equaltopia, as the prince and princess of the Southern Water Tribe.
1. 1:1

"Eska."

"Yes brother?"

"Is this animal abuse?"

Eska strapped on her goggles. The brother and sister were sitting on top of a giant otter penguin, one that was actually quite infamous among the southern village locals. As large as the otter penguin had grown into, Desna and Eska could still barely sit their bums on the animal's back. A rope was tied around them, as they were strapped on the penguins back like it were a saddle.

"Probably," Eska said. "On the bright side, it just proves how superior we are."

"That doesn't make it okay."

A few paces next to them, three children were staring down the hill on top of their own otter penguins. Their rides were smaller of course, each to match all of their proper sizes. "Ready?" Meelo growled out. His siblings nodded. Meelo howled out, like his penguin was motor that could get charged up.

The penguin Desna was on was ridiculously old. He didn't trust the heart wouldn't stop while they were in mid fall. The 'hill' they were preparing to ride there seemed more like am mountain. Desna gulped sitting behind Eska on the otter's back, "we did this together twice when we were five, do you really think-"

Eska yelled, "Face my fury you foreign scum! Banzaaaai!"

She kicked the penguin and it waddled its body forward in a panicked action. The paws thrusted into the snow, the two siblings quickly dove into the steep canyon hill like they were falling off a cliff. Desna screamed while Eska cheered with her arms raised up.

"Hey!" Jinora said not moving forward, "that's cheating!"

"We have to take the enemy by storm!" Meelo yelled with an arm raised up. Like he were entering a war, Meelo yelled, "onward to victory!" Meelo glided forward.

Ikki yelled, "yahooooo!" And slid her otter penguin behind him.

"Not fair," Jinora pouted, before using her own legs to forcefully move the mammel forward.

Desna and Eska sped through the snow at high speeds screaming. The snow whooshed behind them before Meelo quickly rushed passed them. "Air bender cheater!" Desna yelled.

"Air bender cheater!" Desna yelled.

Ikki rushed next to them immediately after, and stuck her tongue out before passing beyond their speeds.

Meelo's voice echoed behind him, "for Air nomad honooooor!"

Eska yelled back, "airbenders have no honor!"

Eska leaned her body forward. While Desna was more focused onto holding tightly to his sister, Meelo and Ikki began throwing snow back at them. Eska yelled, "we agreed no bending!"

"We lost our bending," Ikki yelled, "so throwing snow is okay for us!"

A frozen tunnel appeared closer to them. "Watch out!" Desna yelled. Using his bending, her redirected the snow around them to guide Meelo and Ikki into the cavern. They slid across the icy walls while barely missing the frozen icicles that easily could've crashed into them. "Wooohooo!" Ikki yelled, making her echo emphasize her laugh. Meelo was laughing too, the pure excitement of danger made the experience all the more thrilling.

"Oh crap," Desna said, "we're going to kill Tenzin's kids!"

The otters were doing most of the navigating for them. While the kids couldn't steer the animals, the otter penguins had the instincts needed to dodge any collision course that came their way. The cold ice provided the perfect fall for them and the animals. By the time they reached the end of the frozen cavern, they reached a cliff. Meelo, Ikki, Desna, and Eska all flung into the air while the Otter Penguins prepared for a dive into the ocean.

 _Can't survive cold water,_ Eska remembered.

Eska instinctively rose the sea water to the air, and Desna took her lead and formed the water into a long extended slide. The slide shaped into a giant swirl, and extended to exactly where Ikki and Meelo would fall. Desna, Eska, Ikki, and Meelo, all slid down the slide in a fast paced action.

Meelo crashed into the soft pile of snow after reaching the edge. Ikki fell on top of him. Eska successfully landed on both feet, and made a pose before wobbling her body straight. "Victory!" Eska said.

Desna landed next to her, "we almost died."

"Still victory!"

"Nah-uh," Meelo said. "You said first to the bottom wins, we fell off the slide first!"

"Yeah!" Ikki said rising from the snow. "You also said no bending, that slide was bending."

"You're serious?" Desna growled, "I just saved your life."

"You still cheated to do it!" Ikki complained.

Desna squinted at him, "see, this is exactly why I hate children! Ungrateful brats..."

"You say that every day," Ikki said pointing, "you know what I think? I think you're lying, and you actually love us."

Desna threw a regular snow ball at her face, "stop spreading lies, child."

"Fine, you guys win." Eska threw a snowball at Meelo, "but we can still beat you in a non-bending snowball fight."

Meelo wiped off the snowball from his face with a frown. "But we did that yesterday. What else do you guys do for fun?"

Eska pouted her lips. "Well..." Eska looked up for a moment, "crap, I'm out of ideas."

"Crap!" Ikki exclaimed.

"Yeah, crap!" Meelo repeated.

Eska frowned at them, "aaaaaand now I'm teaching them bad words…"

Jinora walked down the icey passage to meet with the rest of her siblings. Kya was following behind her, she had only found Jinora after they were halfway done with their race. Jinora had opted _not_ to go down the dangerous frozen tunnel, and instead walked down as Kya lead the way. Jinora said, "come on guys, it's time to go home."

"Ahhh," Meelo groaned at the sight of his aunt, "but I don't wanna go home. "

Jinora said, "come on Meelo, we still have to practice our forms before dinner."

Ikki asked, "do we really have to practice our forms if we can't airbend anymore?"

"No, she's right," Eska sighed. "studies first, and all that mojo. You guys gotta go home. It's getting dark anyway, and we can't play when the northern lights are up."

"But it's so boring at home," Ikki groaned. Ikki ran up to Desna and hugged him from the thigh, "let's sleep over at our cousin's house!"

Desna raised an eyebrow, "we're not even cousins yet."

Kya tapped at her necklace, technically, she was engaged to Unalaq. But it was the only excuse the kids needed to call Eska and Desna their cousins.

Meelo said, "Uncle Bumi never learned his forms and he's not a bender. I can still be a general even if I never get my bending back too!"

"Don't say that!" Jinora snapped at him, "don't you ever say that! We're not going to be like this forever! Don't even think about being like Bumi!"

The frozen hillside echoed Jinora's scream. A long silence fell over all of them as they remembered that never bending again was a very real possibility for all of them. "Jinora," Kya said, "we will get your bending back. Its just important that you be patient for now."

Jinora glowered, "easy for you to say, he didn't take away your bending..."

"Jinora..."

"We'll find a way," Eska said calmly to her. "If Zuko could bring dragons back, and two way radios can exist, we can bring back bending too. We just haven't figured out how yet."

Jinora stayed quiet. Kya said, "come on, Katara has hot meals ready for all of you." Before leaving, Kya said to the twins, "thank you," with a genuine smile.

When the family walked out of earshot, Eska said, "I really hate her."

Desna bursted out laughing, "are you serious?"

"I don't know," Eska said murmuring, "it's like she's trying too hard to be my mom."

"Or, you know, she's genuinely a nice person."

Eska shrugged, "it just feels wrong." She laid back on the snow and looked up at the dark sky. It was a calm day, and she could see the stars clearly beneath the southern lights.

Desna asked, "do you really believe that? That they can get back their bending?"

"Of course not," Eska said. "But I couldn't say that to Jinora, at least not now."

"This is why you're trying to make them happy," Desna stated. "You're trying to get them used to the idea that they might never bend again."

Eska nodded, "just because you lost something, it doesn't mean you can't ever have fun again... Do you think they'll get their bending back?"

"I honestly do. As unlikely as it sounds, they need to have hope when there is none to see."

The light sky soon became night, and the northern lights soon danced above their heads. As they stared up at the lights in a calm silence, they both made their own wishes for Tenzin's kids. Eska wished that they'd accept their new lives as non-benders, and Desna wished that their lives would go back to be what it was before Amon's uprising. Neither of them realized that none of these wishes would come true.


	2. 1:2

Yoshi threw a towel on Eztril's face. "Get up maggot."

Eztril grumbled. He was laying back on the ship's deck calmly letting the ice wind slide pass him. Eztril and Yoshi both had on their winter jackets. Despite the both of them coming from the fire nation, the south pole's old was something they both refused to complain about.

"I'm meditating," Eztril said.

Yoshi glared, "you're sleeping."

"I was meditating while lying down."

Yoshi kicked her foot on Eztril's chest. "You're a disgrace to the fire nation, you know that?"

"Says the waterbender," Eztril stuck her tongue out at the taller girl. Eztril was from a small village in the Fire Nation. He'd come from a long line of Sun Warriors, but he never had the fiery passion any of his ancestors had.

Yoshi was a waterbender from a water tribe reserve. He often did his best to mimic fury of the fire nation. It was comical, Ezril had the size and brute strength of a bulky warrior, and Yoshi was so naturally scrawny that he could be mistaken as malnourished.

Yoshi kicked Eztril's body again, "get up you lazy waste of space."

Eztril's body turned. He laid on the hull of the ship, unconcerned by the cold surface of the floor. Despite the strong wind blowing across his face, Eztril didn't feel the need to wear a jacket. "Being lazy never hurt anyone."

"Yeah it did, it got the air nomads killed. Now get up before you rot."

Yoshi kicked Eztril a few more times. HIs body was soft, and Yoshi's kicks were nearly cushioned by Eztril's large body. Yoshi _wished_ he and Ezril could switch bodies.

Eztril sat up slowly, "why?"

"Varrick is almost done," Yoshi moaned, "Varrick just finished his project. Him and Drisana are gonna be out here soon."

Eztril laid back down. "I'm busy."

"How the fuck are you a sun warrior?"

"Priest parents," Eztril raised a finger in the air, "I'm a pacifist, so I'm technically allowed to not do anything."

Yoshi rolled his eyes, "you're a disgrace for the both of us."

"I can live with that."

Footsteps came from the bowel of the boot. Yoshi tightened up at the sight of him. He stood up straight and gave him a heavy bow. "Chief Unalaq."

Unalaq smiled at the teenager. Like most waterbenders, Yoshi had tan skin like people from the tribes, but his cloth's color schemes distinctly portrayed fire nation customs. Unalaq placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright Yoshi, I'm just here to see Varrick again."

"Yes sir," he said quickly. "I'm sure he-"

"Blue!"

Yoshi shivered at the sound of his voice. Varrick stepped forward from the deck and said, "I'm parched blue, do me a solid and go get me the best sparkling water this village has to offer."

Yoshi murmured, _I'm not_ _blue_ , he wanted to say. But he held his tongue and instead obediently replied, "yes sir…", he quietly made his way into the ship's kitchen quarters.

Heading into the ship, a white haired girl walked passed him. She patted him on the shoulder as they walked by each other, "and get me some normal water you mindless lackey!"

 _'Fuck you,'_ he whispered just enough for her to hear. Drisana was from Kyoshi island. She was his age, with tan skin and aviation goggles. While Yoshi wore a typical winter fur coat with fire nation insignia, Drisana preferred a brown leather jacket that made her look like a natural born pilot. Mechanical watches went from her wrist to her shoulder, and she was the only one that could fuel Varrick's enthusiasm.

Varrick turned to Unalaq, "Glad you could make it chief. You're just in time to watch the fireworks. Green, get me the thing!"

Drisana stared at him for a moment. Varrick squinted at her, "Assistant green, I said, get me the _thing._ "

Drisana looked at Ezril, "um, which thing?"

Varrick groaned, "Zhu Li never asked me which thing…"

Drisana said, "I still don't know who Zhu Li was, and I'm now convinced she was a mind reader."

Ezril said, "I still think she was a robot."

"The remote!" Varrick shouted, "that's what I meant when I said the thing!"

Drisana's eyes shot up, she digged into her satchel and took out the remote. "Do the honors, sir!."

Varrick took the remote with frown, but quickly smirked once he pointed the remote at the sky. A crackling launch went off. Lights from the back of t he deck simmered as smoke shot up into the air. The head of the rocket was like a ball of light. It hissed before hitting the highest altitude, and then exploded into a dozen miniature rockets. Those rockets exploded into a dozen more, and then another dozen exploded into the air. They hit the sky in a single movement, and banging blasts expanded miles in the air as fiery explosions.

Varrick smiled, "I call it, rainlight crackers."

"Wow," Ezril said, "that could take down a biplane."

The others stared at Ezril. Ezril paused, "what?"

"What he means," Varrick said, "is they'll be a hit during the glacial spirits festival. Come on Chief, I'll have Greenie here make you some tea, because between you and me, earth tea is rancid when it comes from a Kyoshi warrior girl."

"That's racist," Drisana said calmly. "My crappy tea does not represent my people."

Ezril said, "Wait, isn't it racist to call the only Earth kingdom person greenie?"

Varrick clapped his hands, "no time for questions. Me and the big guy have important things to discuss in the privacy of my quarters." Varrick quickly swooped Unalaq away to avoid another awkward line of questioning from the kids.

XXX

Varrick took a seat in his office, he casually put his legs on his desk to make himself comfortable. "So what's the news chief?"

"Please stop calling me chief," Unalaq said with a sigh. "I'm on the tribal council, but I'm in no way the tribe's chief."

"Chief, you're modest, but you're just selling yourself short here." Varrick began counting on each of his fingers, "you're northern tribe royalty. Your brother's king of the north, you run the council like you own the place. Heck, you're the reason business guys like me love it here. You're the closest thing to royalty this town is gonna get."

Unalaq rubbed the temples of his head, "Varrick, I'm not here to discuss my place in the tribe, I'm here to ask about your promise. The ships we discussed, was it doable?"

"Not just doable, cheap too. The green girl up there is a natural mechanic, she came up with a way to make submarines that are as good as the Fire Nation's, but cheaper and faster to make."

Unalaq sighed in relief.

Varrick added, "it's funny really, Tonraq actually asked me make something similar for him a few hours ago."

Unalaq's eyes widened, "Tonraq? Tonraq asked that? When?"

"When he came to my office an hour ago."

Unalaq blinked at him, _my brother is here?_ Unalaq knew Tonraq would come for the Glacial Spirits festival, but Tonraq normally came with a display of force, bringing elite guards with him to tout around the strength of the northern water tribe. To come to the city in secret, it was out of character.

Varrick picked one of his ears clean and said, "the guy said he wanted to talk to me before telling anyone, he wanted to get a feel of the city before letting to townsfolk know he was here."

Unalaq's voice stayed calm and direct, he was already formulating his own theory, "he asked more from you, didn't he?"

With a wide grin, Varric stepped up from his chair and put a leg on his desk, "he said he wanted me to work for the grand army in the north. I boldly told him that Varrick is not for sale!" He punched his chest to emphasize the point.

"Work… For the grand army…" He was at a lost for words.

Varrick shrugged, "beats me why he needs me. I knew he was paranoid of equalists, but I never thought he'd ask for war machines against them."

Unalaq's thumbs thumped at his hips. "Of course he wants war machines. He'll _need_ war machines. I have to go now."

"Chief, you don't even know where he is."

Unalaq sighed, "actually, I do." Unalaq opened the door out of the quarters, "he and I-"

Yoshi dropped into the room as the door flung open. He had his ear pressed against the door, and he looked up at Unalaq caught in the act of snopping. Yoshi quickly kneeled to the ground, "I'm sorry, I was just."

"It's fine," Unalaq said with a sigh. "Please, anything you just heard, keep it to yourself. The last thing I'd want is for rumors of war to cause panic during the glacial spirits festival.."

Yoshi nodded slowly. He felt the need to ask, "is… Tonraq going to war?"

Unalaq didn't answer him immediately. He placed a hand on his shoulder, "if it ever came to that, it would never be under Tonraq."

It wasn't the answer Yoshi expected, but it was surprisingly comforting. Tonraq had a reputation of ruthlessness and tyranny, a war under Tonraq would've seemed more like a power grab than liberation war.

Varrick asked from behind them, "be honest Blue, if you had to pick between the fire nation army or the water tribe army, which would you join?"

Yoshi glared at Varrick, "Fire nation."

Varrick laughed, "I never knew the Fire nation took in Water benders in their ranks."

"They don't," Yoshi said with a frown, "so I guess I'll be the first."


	3. 1:3

Tonraq's stare down the southern tribe city was a cold one. Without knowing anything about its people, Tonraq was placed in charge of both hemispheres out of traditional heritage. Every year he visited the south, he noticed the distinct differences between both societies.

The north valued tradition, the south valued innovation. The north valued honor, the south valued change. The north's community came from family and clans, the south's community valued the city's prosperity, not necessarily a neighbor's well being.

The differences traced back since the reconstructions efforts from the great war. While the south saw the aid from the north as kindness and hospitality, the north saw it as an honor mission to make up for abandoning the south during the war. The south was innately altruistic, while the north was innately noblestic.

It was why the south accepted all equaltopia exiles, regardless of origins, and why the north only accepted waterbenders for tribal security. It was why the north had a military on par with the fire nation, and why the south didn't even need an army. Like the rising sun and setting sun, the distinctions between the two tribes was why Tonraq was viewed as a tyrant in the south, and a hero in the north.

Tonraq often wondered what would've happened if the roles were switched, if Unalaq stayed in the north, and Tonraq had moved to the south.

Unalaq walked up the snowy hill off the edge of the shore. The snow was deep. His winter boots kept him from sinking. Unalaq brushed passed the light flurry of snow as he reached his brother on the hilltop.

"Tonraq," Unalaq called out, "I spoke with Varrick. He told me you're preparing for war."

Tonraq rolled his shoulders, "can you believe this is the spot where Avatar Aang met Katara? Who'd have thought snow never changes."

"Tonraq," Unalaq said, "if a war comes, will it be for invasion, or to liberate Republic city?"

Tonraq looked off for a moment. Again, he was distant. Away from village politics and people. It was just him and his family, his brother, the only person left in the world that truly cared about his well being.

Tonraq throw a rush of water at him. Tonraq's body swirved as snow raised up and spread across the air in Unalaq's direction.

Unalaq easily dodged and ducked, he raised his streams of snow toward Tonraq, and did his best to launch streams of water and ice in Tonraq's body.

Tonraq should've been and earth bender. The brother's differences were often described as air and earth. Wheras while Unalaq had an aura of calm and knowledge on his head, Tonraq was a force of brute strength. Strong, heavy with side movements, it seemed like he always moved like a mountain would, cutting through whatever path lay in his wake.

Unalaq was even quick in bending. Like a thin airbender, Unalaq's movements mimicked speed and agility. He couldn't touch Tonraq. And this, was their annual tradition. Tonraq would make sure to battle Unalaq before every glacial spirits festival, and he would never speak to him until the battle was finished.

Unalaq had never won a battle against him. Not since they were kids, not since the battles began after Korra's disappearance.

Most believed she died. It wasn't uncommon for kids to fall into oceans while wondering outside. Unalaq never admitted it out loud, but it was always grimmly on his face, _my daughter is gone forever._

Every action, every behavior, each decision could all be tied back to losing his daughter. His years long stoicism and hard iron fist as chief, it sprouted out of his desire to compensate for loss. Even after his wife had died from grief, none of it had hurt as much as losing his daughter Korra.

Tonraq the stone. Tonraq, the icicle heart. Water that hits like steel. He revolutionized the north, made them equal in power to the Fire Nation and republic. With no family, only his duty remained.

Unalaq came to the south because Tonraq had nearly abandoned the tribe. Unalaq made the conscious decision to help the south where Tonraq neglected it. Without the north's wealth, the progress was slow, and it almost seemed hopeless to ever match the north.

Tonraq stomped on the ground like an earth bender. A snow wall rose, and it nearly encapsulated Unalaq. Unalaq split the snow wall by spreading his arms, but Tonraq came charging at him like a mammoth.

Tonraq smashed his body against Unalaq's body, and Unalaq fell back in the snow immobile. Before Unalaq could get up again, Tonraq stomped a foot on Unalaq's chest.

"Looks like I win again, brother."

Unalaq lost his breathe. When Tonraq stepped off of him and Unalaq got up coughing. With a a frown he answered, "yes brother. Just like every year."

Tonraq extended his hand out to lift Unalaq with a smile. Unalaq disliked the smugness , but with a man who had so little, Unalaq could at least let him feed his ego.

Unalaq stepped up, "I know you're creating a world army. An army with northern tribe warriors, and earth Kingdom soldiers."

Unalaq nodded, "that's no secret."

"It's an invasion force. You're amassing an army to invade Equaltopia."

"It's a defensive force, if the equalists ever choose to attack, they'll have to prepare for a full force of three nations against them."

Unalaq raised an eyebrow, "three?"

Tonraq said, "we've made a treaty with the Fire nation. If Equaltopia attacks the earth kingdom first, they'll aid us in an invasion."

"A world war..." Unalaq took a seat on the ground. He looked off to the ports. The boats were minuscule, the bare minimum for the southern tribe. They were nowhere near as prepared for war as theother nations. "I can't… My people can't go to war."

" _Our_ people, brother. No one will be alone. The Equalists are monsters, we don't deserve to be afraid of them."

Unalaq didn't say much. In a war against Equaltopia, no one could be sure that equalist technology wouldn't make them formidable against the war. While they lacked numbers, the machinery they had at their disposal made them unfathomable.

"What should I tell the council."

"Nothing," Tonraq said. "We aren't at war, but when the day comes, be prepared to assemble your forces."

 _We don't have a military force_ , Unalaq wanted to say. What scared him most was Tonraq's use of the word _when_ , like war was inevitable. "If a war comes," Unalaq said slowly, "please don't make me forcefully conscript people. No one should go to war if they don't want to."

"That wouldn't be necessary," Tonraq said, "we need volunteers, not recruits. I'd rather have one soldier who wants to fight than ten soldiers that don't."

Unalaq nodded. He was glad Tonraq was honor bound, a conscription would've have bodded well with the southerners. Tonraq asked, "have you... Talked to Desna about Equaltopia?"

Unalaq raised an eyebrow, "we've spoken about it a few times... Why do you ask?"

"He sent me a letter, he wants to join my army." Unalaq's face paled. His son joining the army was the last thing on his mind. Tonraq, as considerate as he could be, said, "I only told him what I've told everyone, we're a defensive force and nothing more. The first line of defense against Equaltopia, with no guarantee of safety or war... He's told me that he still wants to join."

Unalaq walked toward the village. Tonraq followed next to him, "he's sixteen, we both know he's old enough to make his own decisions."

"I know," Unalaq said quietly, "I can accept whatever decision he makes. It's Eska I'm more worried about."


	4. 1:4

Her name was Aura. The cramped sea vessel meant all the passengers had to sit side by side to each other. Aura didn't mind the cramped space, it was nothing compared to what they'd all been through before.

The captain of the vessel was cynical man. He had no compassion for any of the people on board. As far as he was concerned, Aura and the other passengers were just as valuable as merchandise to him.

Aura was wedged between two kids. They didn't know each other, but they looked to be 10 or 11. At first Aura assumed they were the children of a few of the passengers, it took a long ride of them being ignored for Aura to realize they were put on this ship ship alone, without parental care.

She pulled out her box of food. Opening it released the aroma of cooked fish and fried rice balls. The smell was a bit of a nuisance to most, no one had smelled a well cooked meal in months. Aura passed a rice ball to the girl on her left, and the fried fish to the boy on her right. Both kids looked up at Aura with wide eyes.

"Come on, eat up. We're almost to the southern tribe, and you two haven't eaten since yesterday."

It was true, they were traveling by sea for days. The smugglers didn't share food with passengers, and Aura wouldn't eat if the kids next to her were getting hungry.

The children smiled in relief as they took the meal from her. Aura noticed the droplet shaped tattoos on their wrists.

 _They were former benders._

'Disarmed' was the slang word for it. Because losing your bending was equivalent to lose an arm. Equalists began branding former benders with tattoos of whatever bending class they used to be a part of.

These two kids were both former water benders. The northern tribes wouldn't accept non-benders into their borders. They only accepted water benders out of fear that Equalists spies would enter the tribe. The Fire nation had a similar policy. Their naval blockade blocked all vessels from the outside world, bringing back the island blockade for the first time since the great war.

The ones on this ship were from the Earth Kingdom. The queen made special reservations in the kingdom specific for Equaltopia exiles. Since most of the camps there were neglected and suffered through constant food or water shortages, former water benders could only find hope in the Southern Water tribe, where Unalaq had opened his doors to anyone who needed a home.

The southern tribe considered a safe haven. They took care of exiles far better than any of the other nations did. Because while the Earth queen didn't care about the well being of disarmed people, Unalaq did everything in his power to make sure exiled people could live out hopeful futures, with or without bending.

A light entered the ship hull. The door opened, "alright, light meat," the captain said, "off your bums and pay your exit fees."

"Exit fees?" One of the passengers said, "what exit fee?"

He was a teenager, seventeen, about the same age as Aura. He looked around in shock as the passengers stepped up towards the deck. Passengers all casually put the remainder of their savings into the captains palm. He was like a toll collector, taking what little they had for his own benefit.

Some people shuttered at the sight of his glove. It was an equalist glove, designed to shock people unconscious at a moment's notice. Even with bending abilities, benders often saw those gloves as symbols of danger. For disarmed people, it was a casual reminder of the trauma they were forced to endure.

"I didn't know there were exit fees," the teenager said aloud. He pulled out a coin from his pocket. It was fire nation money, a currency useless ever since the blockade propped up.

Every exile ignored him as they walked towards the deck. He walked to the captain and showed him the coins, "captain, this is all I have, if you could just-"

The captain pushed him back into the hull. "No pay, no exit. Fire money is useless. If you don't got the money to pay, then you don't deserve the kindness I'm showing for transporting yer."

The kid swallowed, in a shaky voice he said, "I can't go back, the people in the earth kingdom hate fire benders. I can't-"

"I'll pay," Aura called out. The captain chuckled. Aura placed Equaltopia coins in the captain's palm, and gestured for the teenager to follow her outside. They, as well as twenty other passengers, exited the ship's hull to reach the deck.

The top of the ship was a desolate breath of relief. They'd finally survived the journey. But looking across the empty south pole brought them a greater sense of isolation, not any sense of hope. A dome of light was seen in the distance. The capital city, with an ice desert standing between them.

They stared into the shoreline. "Why aren't we on port?" A woman said, "the tribe is miles away from here."

"That's not my problem," the captain said, putting his money away. "I'm a smuggler, not a merchant. Couldn't get you lot in the city, so you'll have to settle for here."

The people grew scared, "but there's a blizzard," a man said, "I've never even walked on snow before."

"Not. My. Problem. I said I'd take you all to the South Pole, I didn't say where. You all could travel back to Equaltopia with me, if that's what you'd prefer."

The group stayed quiet. _The tribe was within sight._ It was close, but felt dangerously out of reach. Trenching through the blizzard required an intense amount of skill, skill which none of the exiles had ever experienced.

Aura stepped onto the ground in front of the ship. The snow was a foot deep. She looked back at the passengers and said, "we can make it." They stared at her. "We'll cover ourselves against the winds, and partner arm by arm in groups of two. It won't be easy, but it's not impossible."

Aura's hands shifted through the snow. The blizzard snow dissipated around her. "I've still got my bending, I'll lead the way."

The two kids she'd fed held each other by the arms. The teenager she paid for lead them both forward to follow behind Aura. With that momentum, the other passengers hesitantly followed her off of the ship.

"Come on," Aura said while the ship disembarked away from them, "we'll all need each other to keep each other safe."

Aura's arms shifted through the blizzard. The air around her moved as she shifted the currents away from all of them. To the rest of the people, it looked like she was snow bending. In reality, it was the last piece of her avatar bending.


End file.
